8. HYrojiEstrs. 169 



one-fifth of the length of the head. Tentral fins longer than pec- 

 torals, and extending nearly to the vent. Coloration unifoi-m brown- 

 ish on the back, silvery on the sides ; head and sides with niunerous 

 minnte brown dots. 



Columbia lliver, Vancouver Island. 



a-d. From 8 to 9 inches long. Vancouver Island. ' Presented bv 

 C. B. Wood, Esq., Surgeon, R.N. ■ ' 



8. HYPOMESUS. 

 Mesopus or Hypomesus, Gill, Proc. Acad. Xat. Sc. 18G2, pp. 14, 15. 



Body covered with thin deciduous scales of moderate size. Cleft 

 of the mouth not wide ; maxillary very thin, lamelliform, not extend- 

 ing to below the middle of the eye. Lower jaw slightly prominent, 

 and received between the maxillaries. Dentition very feeble, only 

 the intermaxillary, mandible, palatine, and pterygoid bones being 

 provided with minute teeth ; teeth of the tongue strongest, short, 

 conical. Pectoral fins moderately developed ; caudal forked. Pyloric 

 appendages in small number. 



Pacific coasts of North America, and of North-eastern Asia. 



1. Hypomesus olidus. 



Salmo (Osmerus) olidus, Pa/las, Zoogr. Ross.-As. iii. p. .391*. 

 Argentina pretiosa, Girard, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sc. Phil. 1854, p. 155. 

 Osmerus elongatus, Ai/res, Proc. Calif. Acad. Nat. Sc. 1854, p. 17. 

 pretiosus, Girard, U. S. Pac. R. R. Kvp. Fish. p. 324, pi. 75 (76). 



fig. 5. 

 oligodon, Kner, Denkschr. Akad. Wiss. Wten, xxiv. 1865, taf. 4. 



fig. 1. 



B. 7. D. 10-11. A. 16. P. 14. V. 8. L. lat. 70. 



The height of the body is less than the length of the head, which 

 is two-ninths of the total (without caudal). Snout equal in length 

 to the diameter of the orbit, which is two-ninths of the length of the 

 head. The maxillary extends but little beyond the front margin of 

 the orbit. Body with a silvery band along the lateral line. 



Coasts of California, Vancouver Island, and North-eastern Asia. 



a. Seven inches long. Decastries Bay, Amur River. Purchased of 



Hr. Schmaltz. 

 h-d. From 7 to 8 inches long. Esquimalt Harbour. Presented by 



Earl RusseU ; collected by J. K. Lord, Esq. 



Although we cannot doubt the identity of our specimens with 

 Gii'ard's 0. pretiosus, the description given by Dr. Ayres of 0. elon- 

 gatus would indicate a fish more nearly allied to our European Smelt 

 than is the present species. However, Girard, who had specimens 

 sent by Dr. Ayres for comparison, unites them. 



* This name is also adopted in the text of Brevoort's notes on some figures of 

 Japanese fish in ' Narr. Exped. to China and Japan under Parry,' p. 278. The 

 same author ventured to name the miserable figure, pi. 10. fig. 2, Osmerus 

 japonkus. 



